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Remember that cupboard full of old clothes that you said you wanted to clear out? How about the desk full of books and scraps of paper? Or maybe you’ve always wanted to clear that 1,039,458 emails in your inbox.

Think of all the stuff we’ve procrastinated to do but never got done yet.

It’s now the end of the week and we’ll have plenty of free time over the weekend. So, let’s be intentional.

All of us are victims of the plague of procrastination. I too have drawers and shelves that I’ve never touched in months (and years!). But it’s about time we make use of our free time and it’s time we put procrastination in it’s place. Enough is enough!

Just start.

That’s all you need to know. You have to make the time and do what you have to do. To help you with that, here’s some ideas to help you kick procrastination out of your life:

Make a list of specific actions. Put everything you need to get down down on paper (or a to-do list app). Be specific and be clear about what needs to be done. Make it actionable, like “Clear all scrap/junk paper” or “Remove clothes I don’t wear anymore from the cupboard“. Don’t generalize it, but be specific.

Choose what you want to work on this weekend. Maybe it’s just one thing, like clearing your cupboard. That’s okay, start with that one. Start small and you’ll find you get lots of things done.

Work at it until you’re done. Try not to be too distracted while you’re getting the task done. If you’d like to play music, that’s okay. I found when I tried playing a movie as I got things done, I usually don’t finish the task. You’ll need to focus.

Check it off the list. There’s some satisfaction in having done something productive. Reward yourself later. Try not to go for the double chocolate ice cream. But treat yourself to something nice.

That sounds easy doesn’t it? Things only get done if you start doing them. Sometimes the work seems to daunting because it’s been left there to pile on and on.

As simple and practical the steps above are, sometimes it’s about having a change of mindset that’s most important. Just like someone I know who said “Enough!” to his unhealthy lifestyle, we got to say “Enough!” to our bad habit of procrastination.